101+ Scenes in the Modern Western City

Everytime you look at something in The City, there is something going on behind it. It is a moment caught in the tangles of time of some other persons life. It is those little moments that make The City seem so alive.

The City is many things to many people. If you are bookish, it is a library of stories, each person in the city a story being told. In the tradition of Beachcombing 101, I am looking for an eventual 101 things that could happen in the city. These are the small random and colorful things that could only happen in The City. They are odd things the GM puts in the descriptions around the GM that have little to nothing to do with the characters, generally speaking.

1) A juggler performing on the street.

2) A street preacher loudly making a public sermon on a soapbox. He is a man of the local religion’s cloth and will not stop preaching for anything less than the drastic.

3) Someone handing out flyers for a band.

4) Tour group passes by.

5) A woman carrying a stack of books trips in front of the PC/PCs and falls over, scattering her books everywhere.

6) A pack of somewhat domestic dogs running as their ancestors did. A few moments before, you might of seen the massive cat they are chasing.

7) A piece of glass falls out from a tall building. It shatters on the street and there are many people nursing cuts.

8) Two cars in a fender bender. They are actually off to the side of the road with the police being quite civilized to each other.

9) A teacher" with about 12 young children following behind her like duckling. Each one is hanging on to the rope with handles that the teacher has with her.

10) A bunch of people wearing cowboy hats and pieces of western apparel walking down the street laughing and having a good time. Some might be drinking, even this early in the morning.

11) A pankour pack come tumbling out of an alley. They bounce off a couple of things heading across the street. Quite a sight to see. A few minutes later a straggler come huffing and puffing behind them.

12) Several kids jumping into large snow drifts from a second story window.

13) A residential street is blocked off by yellow tape and barriers. They are setting up for a block party. Some of the kids are starting early.

14) A bunch of people in office casual wear, using lots of electronics while walking (blackberries, laptops, gps, and cells), are heading down the street.

15) A police tactical team is pouring out of their vans. A few other officers seem to be getting out barriers and things from their car.

16) Two kids playing wireless videogames are staring at each other from across the street.

17) A beautiful girl, dressed to the nines, talking on her cell phone.

18) A Phone Company Truck is blocking off traffic and setting up to go down a manhole cover.

20) A bunch of guys are carrying thing into and out of a good sized truck into an building.

21) A bunch of people dressed up in the local team’s colors are walking together.
... and down the street are people wearing the "oppositions" colors.

22) Firemen wrapping up hoses and gear. The building behind them has water sliding down its front steps in a slow dribble.

23) The mail man is facing down a dog. He has a mace can.

24) An artist is hawking painting from has parked van.

25) A pack of guys in suits, pour out of a bar.

26) A homeless guy with a cardboard sign is standing in the intersection.

27) A man with camera seems to be intently focused on something down the street.

28) Steaming coming up from the manhole covers on the street.

29) Bored looking Buddhist monks wait for a bus.

30) A somewhat lanky kid takes a tumble from his skateboard after trying some trick. The crowd seems indifferent. Someone in the back applauds.

Additional Ideas (18)

31) An explosion occurs in a nearby cafe and completely destroys the interior and front of the place, causing a panic among the people on the street. The police and fire departments deploy.

32) After a night out with the "guys" the PC's notice a car following them slowly. If they stop and wait in the shadows for a while the driver turns down a side street and speeds away.

33) A pair of fast-talking men run a game of three-card monty. Ironically, the game is somewhat straight, while their third associate circulates through the crowd, picking the pockets of those who stay to watch.

34) A watermelon falls onto the street, splattering everywhere. It was thrown out of a third story window by a drunk teenager.

35) A group of cyclists, probably the participants of a race, block the street for a few minutes.

36) A man holding a sign saying "free hugs".

40) A guy strolls along strumming a song.

41) A loud break-up taking place, as an angry woman in her apartment shouts at her ex on the sidewalk, while throwing the man's possessions out the window, several stories to the ground.

54) A model spotter for one of the big agencies stops the best looking (or interesting looking) characters in the group and asks if they ever considered modeling. They want to take a polaroid and phone number.

55) Photo or film shoot. A moderate area is cordoned off. There is something of a crowd around it.

56) A film shoot is breaking down. The number of beautiful women per square foot can take your breath away.

57) There is a famous Star and their much less famous girlfriend walking down the street in normal clothes. They are not attached to any media circus going on, they are simply getting a quick bite.

58) A Star, with full entourage including security guards, surrounded by paparazzi, is shifting between their limo and a restaurant/ club/ salon/ store/ hotel.

59) A News Crew for the local station is setting up for a shot. You see the talent getting ready to go on camera. There are tons of cables everywhere and a few stand up lights. The camera guy is trying to tape things down.

61) Sitting at their local coffee shop at 9am the PC's find a team of US Marshals( or agents of the government of whatever country your PC's are in) dropping by for a cup after a long morning of arresting fugitives.

62) A unit of recruits/police academy cadets on their daily run.

63) Lots and lots of sirens approach from one end of the street. Cars pull up to the side or mount the pavement as the convoy of armored police vans and unmarked cars tears down the wrong side of road. Just as they disappear round the corner, a lone patrol car peels out and heads in the opposite direction.

64) A policeman having a double-parked car towed, while pedestrians watch approvingly.

65) A bunch of drunk frat guys harass a young cop; the young cop suddenly flies off the handle (he's obviously new to the job and has had a bad day) and grabs one of the frat boys and jacks him against the wall. Suddenly, everything turns really quiet.

66) Traffic backed up three blocks because two cops are parked next to each other with their flashing lights on, just casually talking, and every passing car slows down to see what's going on.

67) A young couple ask one of the characters to take their photo by a landmark or just in front of something interesting.

68) A clearly lost man trying to hold a very large map out in front of him asks for your help. He doesn't speak the local language (or anything your speak) at all, but repeats the name of the place he is looking for over and over while gesturing at the map. For bonus weirdness the place he is looking for is a bit peculiar ("flesh house", "gate place", "human living location").

69) A walking tour goes by with the tour guide rattling off important facts about the area. The players pick up just the piece of information they need (or will need) about the area.

70) A pack of Japanese tourists are taking pictures of everything. The apparent leader seems to be leading them by some kind of GPS device.

It is a little out of sequence, but just came to me
71) A man and a woman, dressed to impress, pass by. You hear the woman saying "I'm sorry your wife left you for your stepfather..."

72) A local construction crew has the sidewalk marked off with yellow tape. Half of the men are working with pneumatic jackhammers busting concrete while the others lean on their shovels smoking cigarettes.

87) A chugger (charity mugger) approaches with a clipboard and asks if the party can spare a few moments and a small monthly contribution to ease the plight of
a) the homeless b) persons suffering from cancer c) abused children d) the environment etc etc

88) A political candidate and entourage sweep through the street shaking hands and asking who you're going to vote for.

89) An old homeless person of indeterminate sex passes by pushing a shopping cart filled with random rubbish. They mutter something about "Automobiles and shrimp..."

90) Some street theater performers put on a performance. They encourage the audience to participate in their interactive play.

91) An extremely old lady grasps your elbow and asks you to walk her across the street. She walks VERY slowly and it'll take you at least a couple of minutes to walk her across (the light will change, obviously).

92) There's a long, white limousine parked by the curb; as you walk by, you notice a small camera crew filming what's going on inside; it's pretty obvious they're filming a porno.

93) Some guy is on the side-walk selling stuff, i.e. bootleg CD's, African beads, etc. While he waits for customers, he stands off to one side in a HORSE STANCE to show everyone that he knows Kung-Fu is shouldn't be messed with.

94) Two young girls walk up to you and say "$200?". They aren't prostitutes; they just think YOU'RE looking for one. They laugh and go on their way.

95) You attention is drawn when you hear the sound of a large vehicle accelerating hard. A BMW SUV breaks out of traffic and accelerates towards oncoming traffic only to screech to a stop diagonally in front of another car. The driver jumps out and begins screaming at the driver of the car he has just cut off.

96) A trio of nuns playing jump-rope.

97) A young man playing a guitar, with the case open on the ground before him. He has a sign that says COLLECTING DONATIONS FOR THE OPTIMUS PRIME ELECTION CAMPAIGN. He can play any song you care to name.

98) While walking past a Catholic School in midwinter, a snowball hits a PC in back. An elderly nun ambles about nonchalantly.

99) A particularly loud and irate protest group outside the place they are protesting (abortion clinic, courthouse, city hall, corporate HQ, etc.). things are starting to get damned ugly, but there's no violence... yet

100) Two small children run pass wearing home-made superhero masks/capes

101) A small child asks a player if that is a real gun/sword/etc they have hidden on them

102) Brief moment of quiet as traffic stops/clears and all conversations pause at the same time. Crystal Moments like this are rare.

103) Eight giggly women wearing pink cowboy hats accost the players. A woman wearing a sash that says "Lanas hen night" tries to persuade a male character to donate his underwear to her scavenger hunt list.

104) A new driver, with shiny new learners permit, accidentally jumps the curb.

105) Bride or groom comes running out of a building and asks the PCs if they will be witnesses.

106) A guy breaking into a car with a coat hanger. The car's alarms are blaring and people are just walking by, ignoring the whole thing, and definitely not calling the cops.

107) Mimes have infested the street and try to climb invisible ropes in front of a clearly unappreciative audience.

108) Two overall clad workmen are carrying sheets of glass from oneside of the road to the other where there's a skip. The panes of glass have large black Xs across them in tape. There's no obvious construction going on within a block of this event.

109) A van and a car stop at a red light. When the light turns green, the van doesn't start to move immediately, and the car behind starts to honk. Still the van doesn't move. The car's driver jumps out, holding a tire iron, and starts to walk towards the van, screaming obscenities. The van's doors open and four much larger men pile out, screaming back. The car's driver jumps back into his vehicle and locks the door. The four men from the van keep screaming and aim a few heavy kicks at the car's panels before climbing back into the van and driving away.

110) A church is next to a medical center. The church has a banner outside reading "spiritual healing" and people handing out fliers. The medical center has a banner reading "actual medicine" and people handing out fliers.

111) Some hustler follows you down the block, offering to sell you weed. Failing that he will begin to name every other kind of drug possible, hoping to make a sale. He says it all very very fast and very very quietly, so the whole thing sounds like of like, "Smokesmokeweedweedacidecstasyspeedcokecrackjunk?"

112) Woman or man approaches you at a train or bus station with a long complicated story of how he/she was pickpocketed and now has to borrow money to buy a ticket home in another city where his/her young children are waiting. If you suggest contacting the police they will spin an excuse and get evasive.

130) From an open window you can hear and then spy a ten-year-old girl playing the violin rather well.

131) On a corner one guy with a guitar, another playing an assortment of plastic buckets, and three others singing in harmony are making fairly good music for an impromptu band.

132) You walk into a shop and the theft alarm goes off.

133) When the PC's are in a hurry, the crossing gates ahead begin to drop, and there's the deep whistle of the oncoming train. Alternatively, there is already a train in the crossing, and there's no alternative to stopping.

134) A flustered woman drops her shopping.

135) A pedestrian and a bicycle messenger in an argument

137) A bike messenger speeding along, pops the curb and deftly weaves between people on the sidewalk.

138) A bike messenger impacts the side of a cab.

139) A pack of bike messengers descend on a fast food place.

140) Something growls at you from the gloom of an alley. It sounds like a big cat (lion, tiger, etc). If you actually investigate, there is nothing there and there are no traces of such a creatuer.

141) A freight elevator emerges from the sidewalk.

142) Left over holiday lights blink from a lightpole.

143) A church's bells sound the hour.

144) A pack of twentysomethings dressed for a formal events emerge from a building and head on down the street.

145) A man pushes two racks of dresses covered in clear plastic.

146) An exotically dressed woman pushes a smaller rack behind him. Three people with sketchpads, phones, and a number of boxes orbit around her.

147) A car backfires. A suprising number of people dive for the ground.

148) A series of loud banging noises come out of a nearby construction zone.

149) Two young lover run up to each other and being a serious display of public affection.

150) A man on a unicycle juggles three McD's bags as he weaves through the crowd.

151) A kid on a skateboard jacks a ride off the back of a truck.

152) In a store window, a living mannequin sneazes, swears, and gets back into character.

153) An older man on an bicycle, powered by an electric motor, wizzes by.

154), Someone unfurls what could be an 300 foot extension cord as they walk along. The cord trails back to a nearby storefront.

155) A girl in Fantasy Elven Dress, a guy in some kind of World War II uniform, a refuge from the 50s with leather jacket, and a normal kid in a baseball cap, seem to be moving along carefully but with a purpose.

157) A bunch of cosplayers wandering around looking for a waffle-house. One of them is nursing a black eye.

158) A group of punked up teens have the youngest girl in the group on a leash. The police are arguing with them, suspicious that they're trying to peddle her ass.

159) The PCs spot several gothed up looking types wearing leather trench coats and fairly obvious katanas and .50 desert eagles. Anyone who makes a decent spot check will realize the weaponry is not real. Its the local Vampire LARP group out on a "full costume" social.

160) A group of pirates walks past. One block later, a large number of vampires are gathered around a pub, and a suspicious number of well-dressed gentlemen in similar hats are seen nearby.

161) It looks like the staff of an entire renaissance guild/ faire is walking along the street. They are all chattering away, some loudly bellowing to other people up or down the line, all the time using period speach.

162) A number of people in animals suits, some kitchy, some to a near hollywood level, amble by.

163) In a small park, a Medieval Simulation group in full armor practice their fighting techniques. A few hangers on in various states of odd garb watch.

167) A cart vendor, who obviously learned his trade at a ballpark, calls out for people to buy some freshly roasted peanuts.

168) A crowd has formed around the hot dog vendor. There is a near feeding frenzy going on.

169) A couple is having a picnic on a lovely boulevard divider which has grass and flowers on it.

170) What looks like a football team (dressed in street clothes) come walking down the street stuffing hotdogs in their mouths and drinking sodas.

171) A cart selling "roasted rat on a stick" is on the corner. The proprietor looks surprised as someone in a suit strolls up to order one with teriyaki sauce.

172) An ice cream vendor pushes his cart, while singing a song in Spanish. He is followed by a trail of kids.

173) A man in a cowboy hat is selling Real Barbeque, fresh out of the smoker in the pickup truck behind him. The pulled pork seems to be the popular item.

174) A man sells sushi out of a huge cart on the corner. He is cutting it right there as you order.

175) An older Japanese man is selling Noh Masks (Japanese theatre masks) from a table on the street for wearing or decoration.

176) A taiko drummer practices on the street corner in front of a shop.

177) A kendo class practices in the small blacktop lot across the street.

178) Three people are literally dragging a fourth into a Japanese Restaurant / Sushi bar

179) A guy hawking anime CDs out of a steamer trunk runs a continuous stream of patter to get someone interested in his products.

180) A shopkeeper and employee hangs a sign up on their storefront using two rickety ladders.

181) A girl with a tiny karaoke machine/ speaker, belts out J-Pop tunes as she walks and dances down the street.

182) The girls are prodding along another girl who is actually a very feminine looking boy in a teenage girl outfit. (I was thinking school uniforms, but go with what you want).

183) A bride and groom ride down the street in a horse drawn carriage.

184) A limo with someone riding a surfboard on the roof drives by.

185) Six police officers in dress blues, and a few civilian wives, walk down the street towards you.

186) Three women, who seemingly just met, are taking off their shoes and showing them off to each other.

187) A bunch of Harry Potter cosplayers walk down the street like they are on school holiday. Of course, you hope they are cosplayers or larpers.

188) A stoplight literally blows up as some catastrophic failure of lightbulbs takes out all three of them.

189) You hear a car alarm.

190) A number of Buddhist monks have just met a number of Orthodox Rabbis. They are both bowing to each other and talking animatedly about something.

191) A rowdy pack of six to eight year olds in Karate Gis emerge from a storefront dojo.

192) Some people are flying a kite in an open space.

193) A woman dressed to the nines is having her picture being taken by a photographer in the park.

194) A businessman talking on his cellphone walks into a mailbox and falls over.

195) A wedding cake is being moved from the car to a doorway across the sidewalk. Several people have stopped to form a human shield between pedestrians and the five layer monstrosity. Unfortunately, the people carrying the cake are not too strong.

196) A group of young women all wearing the same ugly mauve dress are trying to hail a cab.

197) On the steps of a church standing next to a bride, are two men with shotguns.

198) There is a man in a tuxedo running down the street (to or away from The Church is up to you.)

199) People in very ethnic dress emerge from a church and start heading towards the cars. Those that have left earlier have clogged the street with traffic.

200) A guy is standing on the sidewalk infront of the church crying.

201) A person with a clipboard is trying to get people to register to vote.

202) You see a hawk fly down the "canyon" formed by the tall buildings on either side of the street, only a few scant feet above the cars.

203) A van-mounted sound sytem starts playing the national anthem. Everyone stands to attention and starts singing.

204) A man walking down the street with tomato ketchup all over his clothes. He seems perfectly calm, obviously trying to ignore his predicament.

205) The path to wherever the PCs need to go is blocked by a parade. If the PCs are creative and daring, maybe they can briefly join the parade long enough to be able to slip out on the other side.

206) You see a small group of people standing nonchalantly as one of them ducks down to pry up a grate covering a storm drain. He pulls on a rope attached to a portable cooler. (it's a geocache)

207) The bus stops and the first passenger off is a cat.

208) In front of the players is a police blockade. Locals mutter and curse, but players notice two odd things.
First, National guard are about to charge in the blocked off building. Second, a large white van sits outside. A man and a woman in a lab coat look on the scene, taking turns futzing in the van.

209) They turn a corner to find a completely abandoned street. About half a block in, even sound stops. In the center is a construction barrier around a sinkhole.

210) There was a train stop here yesterday and a lot of previous days. Today, it is gone.

211) A small white pickup truck parked with it's lights on, the doors unlocked and the key in the ingnition. The owner is nowhere in sight and the truck is begging to be stolden and stripped.

212) Someone's on the side of the road with a car that needs a jump.

213) Someone's just missed their bus or train, arriving winded at the stop just as it pulls away. They're anywhere from phlegmatic to weeping/

Artist Options
214) An artist is making a chalk drawing of a forced perspective picture taking up most of the sidewalk. It's a picture of someplace the PCs have seen but something is disturbingly different.

215) You see an artist drawing a hyperrealistic mural on the wall near a cafe. It is of several people standing there chatting/ waiting for the bus stop.

216) The sidewalk is filled with chalk art. There is tape and stands up to keep people from walking on it.

If you have stepped into the Twilight Zone or TimeKnot
217) Related to 210, today there is a subway/ tube station on a street you pass every day. It wasn't there yesterday, nor was there any construction. If you go down, it is an odd looking station. If you take the train or look at the map, you notice it is not for this city. Or if it is your city, it is not completely right.

218) Related to 214, you see a mural with people waiting for the bus stop. The bus drives up and stops. When it drives away several of people in the mural are gone (or new ones are added).

219) A person walks up to one of the players and starts chatting to them excitedly, asking about all the news they've missed out on. The problem is, the person has been dead for years, yet are at the same age as they were when they died and looking perfectly okay and resemble the person EXACTLY. Any checks reveal they are INDEED the person. More reports come up of this sort of thing...

220) A totally unrecognisable body of troops rolls through the city. People are gathering around excitedly, watching this odd display until the soldiers order them to line up. The local police and a militia engage in a gun battle with these people, which is one sided. The soldiers are soon joined by fighter jets and soon the local media outlets are overtaken. The problem is, the insignia and flag are not from ANY earthly nation.

221) There is a large monster roaming through the streets of the city. You catch a glimpse of it doing destruction and scaring people. Then you blink. The scene in completely normal. Nobody remembers the monster but you (and maybe someone else). The monster was in one of the street chalk pictures you saw on the street yesterday.

222). There is a women screaming at some store clerk that is standing at a door of a shop (obviously keeping her out) about "This not being the right shop" and "what has she done". The police are walking up the street.

223) An old battered suitcase lies quite purposely but casually placed on a gutter. If opened, it reveals $25 000 in local currency, a loaded revolver and a picture of the person to be killed. (Great movie/ book plots are the best.)

224) A car is parked on the side of the road and a woman is trying (and failing) to refill it from a jerrycan. They aren't using the spout so it's not pouring well and not going into the tank. The fun part, they are smoking at the same time.

225) Some guy with a laptop and a wireless connection logging on to www.strolen.net sitting outside a store.

226) A guy wearing normal clothes (well, normal for a comic book geek: say blue jeans and a Spiderman t-shirt) plus a black cape. It's not Halloween. All he's doing is ordinary things like going to a used book store to see what's new in old books.

227) An orthodox rabbi and catholic priest walk by both carrying takeout coffee cups having a friendly and animated discussion about something completely non-sequitor. (It was who was going to win the Stanley Cup in this case).

228) The character's are cut of by a motorized 12 speed delivering chinese food or pizza.

229) A man is talking animatedly into his hands free mobile as he walks down the street, suddenly you realise he doesn't actually have a hands free mobile. Crazy? maybe.

230) A woman who looks rough around the edges (perhaps homeless) sits oddly still and with eyes closed throughout a subway/streetcar/bus trip. She is unresponsive to nudges and bumps, and if people look closely, they realise she's dead.

231) A nearby manhole cover briefly lifts a few inches, then settles back down again. Observant characters will notice that there was a guy underneath it. (http://www.history.com/minisites/citiesoftheunderworld/ is shooting in San Francisco)

232) A pickup truck pulls up at the top of some stairs or similar. people leap out and setup a kayak at the top and ride it down, where the kayak is loaded back into the pickup and they drive away. Urban kayaking is a very odd thigns. There is a also a plant with a camcorder to watch the event and the reactions.

233) A skilled classical guitarist is playing on a street corner (not far from the farmer's market. He isn't busking for money, just for the fun of playing.

234) While trying to get somewhere quickly, the PCs encounter a film crew shooting footage of a wire-fu action scene in the middle of the street. Complaints or inquiries reveal that this whole section of the street has been requisitioned for the entire day.

235) The nearest coffee shop's front display window explodes outward as a chair sails out into the street. An irate woman can be seen (and heard) having loud, angry words with the proprietor.

236) A woman asks for money for her baby, the baby appears drugged or comatose (the babies are apparently shared among a gang).

237) The film crew for Paranormal Investigation TV show are sitting around the local Coffee Shop at noon wearing their "show shirts" and drinking too much coffee. Some are more jittery than their coffee intake would imply.

238) TV news van parks nearby and begins to get ready to broadcast.

239) Someone who is important is being swarmed by media types trying to get their qustions answered.

240) A gunshot is heard. People panic. (It is scary when they briefly look around and go about their business.)

241) A mob of children gather round a character openly trying to pick his pocket, each of them going for a different pocket. They count on people not wanting to hit children to get away from it.

242) You find a number of body shaped chalk outlines on the street just outside where you were last night. You didn't hear a thing.

243) Some people are setting up an odd looking machines with lights and tubes over some kind of access point (sewer cover, communicaiton junction, etc). They seem to have a city truck and city utility uniforms. However, they really don't look like water and power people.

244) You trip over some spent gun casings/ shells on the sidewalk.

245) The stoplight is flashing red in all directions. You can be amused by all the people trying to get ahead and jump the cue when the intersection is a four way stop.

246) You are watching the stop lights. It is doing an odd order. It is like someone is changing the lights at random. So far, nobody has crashed.

247) The stoplights face red in all directions. The horns are blaring.

248) Power Outage for this set of block. The buildings (residential and commercial) are all dark, as are the steet lights. There are police officers directing traffic at the intersections.

249) A utility truck is blocking a lane of traffic. Traffic is getting backed up.

250) In front of a coffee shop, there are a bunch of people in hazmat suits, with their hoods down and some gloves off, casually drinking coffee and baked goods.

251) A car is wrapped in police tape.

252) One of the video cameras that monitor an ATM and bank entrance swivels to watch you.

253) Where an ATM was in the wall yesterday, a large hole is today... there are wired and tubing, as well as a plastic casing just hanging there.

254) A truck is delevering a stand up ATM to a restaurant. There seems to be some kind argument about it.

255) A toy radio control car goes zipping past you and turns a corner into an alley.

256) It is the middle of the day, but a load of newspapers are being dropped off at a newstand.

257) A five strong group of heavyset men, none smaller than 6 feet try to mug a frail looking elderly couple. As the elderly gentleman reaches for his wallet, the woman steps forward, and in a blurred flurry of movement, send three of the muggers on the floor, unconscious. The other two take a look at each other and at the woman turning towards them and start to run away.

258) It is night. In one of those little green square parks, there are party lights hung - and glowing bright. If you look through the bars in the fence, the party is all set up. If you look well, you will notice that it is full of half eaten food, drinks, and the sounds of static of a player that has stopped playing. It is as if, everyone just got up and left.

259) It is night and it is raining. You notice that the bricks in a wall that you are standing near/ walking near are disolving.

260) You are walking along at night, there is a muffled scream that ends abruptly.

261) You are walking along at night, there is a muffled scream that ends abruptly. You could swear that scream came from the sewer grate you were standing near.

262) It is night time and there is a street blocked off for a street faire.

263) It is night. It is late. For a moment, the sounds of the city still, and you can hear crickets.

264) It is late night. A number of people in baker's whites leave a closing diner.

265) It is late at night and a garbage truck is collecting trash from dumpsters. That doesn't seem that odd, except don't they do that during the day? ....

267) It is late at night. A panting person blows past you at a dead run.

268) It is late at night and the bus driver is stopped at a stop. He has fallen asleep. Loud snores can be heard through the bus windows.

269) It is late a night, you are being followed by what you think is a hooker, walking suggestively and making an occaisional comment. But they way she moves and her eyes makes you think she is after something else.

270) It is late at night and a number of cabbies congregate on a side street not too far from a few blocks of clubs, bars, and restaurants.

271) It is late at night. A truck with a police escort drives by. You see a nuclear warning/ biohazard symbol on the truck.

272) It is late at night. You see someone in a ninja costume waiting by the bus stop. (to add more fun, you blink or the bus drives by without stopping, and he is gone.)

273 A classical string quartet are busking on the street corner outside a newsagency. It takes you a moment to realise that you recognise what they're playing. Is it a Michael Jackson song? Or maybe Prince...

274 A middle aged woman is busking outside a cafe. She is strangely dressed, wearing purple stockings, a red miniskirt and an orange shirt. She's singing at the top of her lungs and strumming her guitar loudly. And very badly...

275 A young man dressed as a pirate is sitting with his back against a shop window, singing about a love he lost at sea while swigging from a large bottle of rum.

276 Two men in dark green HAZMAT suits stagger out of a large office block. After a moment they start shouting about how it wasn’t their fault and at the people standing around to run. As they pass you you notice the word ARMY emblazoned across the back of their suits.

277 Two paramedics are in the process of loading a body bag onto a stretcher and into the back of a waiting ambulance. Several police officers are standing around talking to who you assume to be witnesses.

278 A man on a moped cuts in front of you, weaving in and out of the pedestrians to avoid the traffic.

279 A young woman is in the middle of the walkway on her hands and knees. She seems to be desperately searching for something. You notice a pair of glasses at your feet…

280 You hear a low moan behind you and as you turn you come face to face with a zombie. A zombie drinking a can of coke… As you look around you see several other zombies doing usual every day things. You notice a sign on the wall advertising the 4th annual Zombie March.

281 A girl in a school uniform is arguing with two police officers. From what you overhear you suspect she was smoking and they confiscated her cigarettes. Apparently the ID she handed them identifies her as being 32…

282 A kid walks past wearing a Black Sabbath shirt, his music so loud that you can hear it from 10 feet away.

283 A man walks down the footpath dressed in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

284 A police officer is standing next to car dabbing at the front of his shirt with a cloth where he’s just spilt his coffee.

285 A man thrusts a leaflet in your face leaving you no option but to take the leaflet or walk through him.

286 A small café has its doors open and the smell of roasting coffee floods the street.

287 Unfortunately someone has left it on too long and it smells burnt. (for use with 286)

288 A large neon sign on the building above you shorts out with a loud zap.

289 People are having photos taken with large muscular man standing on the street corner dressed in nothing but a green mankini.

290 The cathedral bells chime to mark the hour… They’re early, it is only 1352.

291 A man dressed as Jesus runs past you singing Zippadi-doo-da as loud as he can.

292 An overweight copper is chasing after him, panting heavily. (for use with 291)

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And if anyone wants to add, please feel free. And add to any of the scrolls. Things only get better as the community works on them.
http://www.strolen.com/view.php?node=free_search&free=101
http://www.strolen.com/view.php?node=free_search&free=30

This is good and there are some quite funny ones in here, also this would be a great resource for a GM who is worried that his view of a city isn't random enough or too slanted. But the list is too large and varied, and perhaps could benefit from another layer of organization.

You could have night and day, winter and summer lists. But as you say a city is made by the people in it and the interactions that might be usual for one city may be very unusual for another. So this sort of list glosses over the things that make all your other city images so fantastic.
I am not saying it isn't useful to some, but it is more of platform for ideas than idea in and of itself. And in that regard I think it could use some honing.

Most of these are things that happen in the background. They are not supposed to be scenes that your characters are really involved in. Think of them as things happening in the background, scenes or tableau, that help give a busy/ random/ odd city feel.

(Or they are quick establishing scenes in the movie sense, just a few moments of film between story scenes.)

Though some can be made into player character scenes because the players engage them. (That makes them scene seed.) If they do, great. If they don't, continue on with your planned events.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with these lists, and as they say above some bullets are quite entertaining. In that sense you almost have urban poetry here, but as a game resource you have very little. If somebody wants to set a tone for a scene or city then this as a random generator or grab bag won't work. In addition some of these almost little stories obviously meant to amuse the list reader.

195) A wedding cake is being moved from the car to a doorway across the sidewalk. Several people have stopped to form a human shield between pedestrians and the five layer monstrosity. Unfortunately, the people carrying the cake are not too strong.

196) A group of young women all wearing the same ugly mauve dress are trying to hail a cab.

197) On the steps of a church standing next to a bride, are two men with shotguns.

198) There is a man in a tuxedo running down the street (to or away from The Church is up to you.)

While what you have here may be an interesting read, it doesn't come across as an effective resource for a GM. As suggested if you sort them perhaps by tone, era, time or geography you could have something really cool. (i.e. Scenes from a Noir city, Scenes from a Steampunk city, Scenes from a Roman city etc..) It seems you just got carried away with an idea before you thought it through, and it is mostly you isn't it who post all this stuff. I hope you don't see this comment as mean or harsh.

You are right, this is mostly modern city. I play modern setting games most of the time, so for people like me, this is useful. You could adapt many of them to a Victorian Era (Steam Punk), The Era of Pulp/ Noir (which I have done), WWII or Near Future (like Cyberpunk which I haven't done yet, but it could be done). You will have to adapt things to match your city or world anyways. However, some can not (hence why a generator might not be useful). Roman or fantasy cities have not been represented. Nobody has posted any scenes for those. The original thread was to include them. Nobody has added any. If you see a missing gap, feel free to fill it. That is how this place works.

Anyone willing to take that challange and add them to this, or create their own scenes submission? Axl can try to organize them too. You do it, and I can rename this to modern city, and you name yours the way it fits.

That is the point. Little things to throw in the background to show the world is still moving and does not (completely) revolve around the PCs. Most of these are things players won't enage. If they do, they are either between "adventures" or really bored with the one they are on.

Another great community resource.
Lots of awesome ideas here to add life to a city. Quite a few of them would make very nice plot hooks as well.

+edit+
I've just added a few quick ideas of my own... These are all things I've seen around my home city. I'll work on some more generic ones for later.
And in case anyone is wondering... 276 was a prank we pulled. All involved got absolutely slammed for it...

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The local temple is known for putting words of wisdom of stele, in and anround the temple. These words of wisdom are normally temple proverbs or wise words, but sometimes they are "singing the praises" of any large contributor or a noble who grants them a special law. If you need proverbs and quotes for them, search a few quote and proverb sites, concentrating on religions like the temples. Put these quotes in a word doc or list, that way you can always "whip out" a bit of wisdom.